Page 4 of Blue Jean Summer

The unexpected peace she left in her wake didn’t last long.

“The lawyer’s here to read Grandfather’s will,” Lewis said with a clap of his hands as he sidled up to me. “He’s waiting in the office.”

Right. Because the last thing I wanted to do on the day of my granddad’s funeral was sit through a grand announcement of who got what.

Greed danced in Lewis’s eyes as he turned, then looked over his shoulder. An impish smirk curled at the corner of his lip. “You coming?”

Chapter 2

Hayes

I needed a fucking minute.

Instead of following Lewis up to the front entrance of the house where folks were gathering before lunch was served, I slipped into the side entrance that went straight into the kitchen.

Dark-uniformed catering staff rushed to dress salad plates that were lined up across the massive island. I sidestepped the madness and dipped into the pantry that was almost as big as the kitchen itself. I pawed through the stash of dry goods and cooking equipment, looking for something to take the edge off. I didn’t drink, but a sip wouldn’t hurt.

“What are you doing snooping in my kitchen?”

I spun at the scolding voice, good-natured as it was.

Hallie stood behind me with her hands on her hips. Her copper hair spilled out of the giant clip she used to keep it away from her face. Even though we were around the same age, Hallie had a maternal presence that had me tucking tail.

“Just needed a minute,” I said, not wanting her to feel the brunt of my exhaustion and grief.

“That lawyer’s in the study.”

I let out a sharp breath as I rested my hands on the edge of the marble countertop and closed my eyes. “Hence why I’m in here.”

Without saying a word, Hallie reached for a canister labeled Buckwheat, lifted the top, and produced a bottle of whiskey. She opened a canister that claimed to be wild rice and pulled out two shot glasses, then filled both and handed me one. “To Walt.”

My throat was too tight to speak, but Hallie wasn’t fazed when I didn’t echo the sentiment. I nodded and tapped my shot glass to hers.

I didn’t drink the whole pour. Instead, I let a tiny splash of liquor linger on my tongue, hoping the fire would burn away the knot in my throat.

It didn’t.

“That’s all you get,” Hallie said as she returned the bottle to its hiding place. “Now get going before Lewis weasels his way into owning the whole damn estate. If he’s my new boss, I quit.”

Hallie Campbell had been a cornerstone of the family estate for the last few years. Needing a little more work to make ends meet, she had come to work for my granddad after my grandma passed. She made sure he ate and she helped with the housework as his mobility faded.

Granddad didn’t want to slow down, but his body told a different story. He convinced Hallie to quit her job as a manager for a catering company and manage the estate full-time instead.

She had been the one to call me over and over in the middle of the night until I picked up when she thought my granddad didn’t have much time left.

I didn’t waste a second leaving my house in Bethesda, because Hallie was always right.

She cocked her head toward the door. “The sooner you let the lawyer talk, the sooner it’s over.”

“I want to drink that whole bottle,” I said with a sigh. I wasn’t going to. But I wanted to.

She smirked. “Good luck finding it.”

I paused in the doorway and looked back at her. “You weren’t at the service.”

She lifted a shoulder in a dismissive shrug. “There was work to be done.”

“You should have been up with the family.”